The present invention relates to a protective body for insertion into a body cavity of a human or animal body for the protection of tissue and/or organs that are not to be irradiated when carrying out radiation therapy.
In medicine nowadays, radiation therapy is used in many forms in the treatment of patients with cancer and tumors. This involves applying a sufficiently high radiation dose to the area to be irradiated, in particular the tumor, while seeking to ensure that the healthy tissue areas and organs, in particular adjacent to the tumor, are damaged as little as possible, if at all, by the radiation.
A tissue protector for use in the oral cavity is known from WO 2011/026662 A1. It basically involves a plastic component which, by being shaped individually to the patient, serves to move the tongue, lips and other tissue parts out of the beam path, such that these get the smallest possible dose of radiation and, as a result, there is the least possible chance of damage to otherwise healthy tissue. Moreover, WO 2011/026662 A1 also discloses that lead plates, which are advantageously exchangeable, that can additionally be applied, if appropriate, to the tissue protector disclosed there.